Fabrication of piezoelectric microcantilevers using LaNiO₃ buffered Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ thin film

We have fabricated piezoelectric microcantilevers using LaNiO₃ (LNO) buffered Pb(Zr_0.52,Ti_0.48)O₃ (PZT) thin films through the microelectromechanical system (MEMS) microfabrication process. It has been found that the LNO thin films reduce the degradation caused by wet and dry etching for the MEMS microfabrication process. The displacement of the microcantilevers with LNO thin films draws a symmetric butterfly curve against dc actuation, while that without LNO thin film draws an asymmetric butterfly curve. The transverse piezoelectric constant d₃₁ for the LNO buffered PZT thin films is -100 to -120 pm V^-1 at a voltage of 10 to 30 V, which is more than twice that for non-buffered PZT thin films.